Device and method for crumbling root crops and for determining components in root crops

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for crumbling root crops into substantially equal sized pieces, comprising: a main frame having an inlet side and an outlet side; a root crop supply at the inlet side; at least one crumbling shaft rotatable supported in the main frame, the crumbling shaft being provided with a plurality of curved hooks, which are curved into a direction of rotation of the crumbling shaft; and a non-rotating cutting rake having a plurality of protrusions and recesses and forming a counter blade for the hooks, wherein the hooks are arranged for interlaced movement with said recesses of the non-rotating rake. The invention moreover concerns a system and a corresponding method.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/104,174, filed Nov. 25, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/288,384, filed on Oct. 7, 2016. The entirecontents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device for crumbling root crops intosubstantially equal sized pieces, a device for determining components inroot crops and a corresponding method.

BACKGROUND

In the cultivation of root crops, measurement of contents plays animportant role. Root crops, for the purposes of this patent application,are root crops such as sugar beets, fodder beet, red beet, and turnips,as well as tubers such as potatoes, yam and Jerusalem artichokes.Cultivation involves a continuous, systematic selection of suitable rootcrops with respect to, for example, biomass yield, ingredients ordisease tolerance. To be able to exercise such a selection, the contentsof these crops are regularly analyzed. This is associated with a highinvestment in terms of labor and expense. Ultimately, however, thesuccess of a breeding program is contingent upon the rapid and reliableanalysis of the contents of root crops.

For culturing and trail purposes, root crops are grown in the field inso-called “plots”. A plot represents a parcel of land of pre-measuredsize, and permits the cultivation of several crops, their numberproviding a statistical indication regarding the nature and distributionof crop yield. In the production of sugar beets one finds in generalabout 90 beets per plot. The plot is rated for productive capacity forsugar beets, and, after uprooting, the sugar beet is analyzed forcontent. Such an analysis takes place by means of conventional seriestechniques, which provide high accuracy. The goal however is to keep thecost of analysis to a minimum.

Structure and composition of the sample used for analysis are crucialfor the accuracy of determining of the content. It should be inparticular be taken into consideration that, due to genetic, cropcultivation, and above-all environment-contingent influences on growth,significant differences occur from plant to plant in the concentrationsof quality-determining ingredients. Furthermore, a non-uniformdistribution of concentration of the relevant constituents also is foundwithin individual root crops such as beets and in the bodies or potatotubers. This heterogeneity of the object of analysis has led to highsampling requirements, which was solved for beets, turnips and potatoesso far by the generation of so-called mash samples. Although theprocedures have been continuously improved over time with respect toanalysis of, for example, beet pulp (DE 26 11 636 B1) and potato mash(Ziolko and Jehle (2002), GIT Laboratory Journal 2000, 268-273) thesemash-samples, since they represent only a sampling of the totalpopulation of the crops of a plot, are only limitedly representative. Asa result of such non-representative sampling, significant distortionsmay occur in the measurement of ingredients.

Automated laboratories are known, in which ingredients are determined ina serial manner following extraction of pulp samples with aluminumsulfate or lead acetate. In addition, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)has proven to be useful in the analysis of ingredients from crops testedin analytical laboratories, which is carried out for mashed raw potatosamples, samples of potato pulp, beet pulp samples, technical juices andspecial byproducts of sugar production from beets (Haase (2006),Starch-Starke Vol 58 (6), 268-273; Heppner et al. (2000), SugarIndustry, 125 No. 5, 325-330; Fernandez et al. (2008), Journal of NearInfrared Spectroscopy 16, 105-110). This spectroscopic method makes itpossible to determine several analytes simultaneously in a sample,provides a quick availability of results and avoids the use of reagents;it thus reduces the cost and time of an analysis.

The use of NIRS as an analytical measurement method for thedetermination of ingredients in root crops has so far been restricted tothe laboratory environment and therefore has the disadvantage that inaddition to the actual analysis, a number of other preparatory sampletreatment steps are needed, including activities such as fallharvesting, cleaning, collecting, storage, packing, labeling, freezingand sending of samples to the investigating laboratory. This increasesthe cost and the time required for analysis as a whole.

For cereals, maize and grass, NIR spectroscopy has already been used forreal-time analysis of substances in conjunction with harvesting machines(WO 99/58959 A1). Here, a near infrared (NIR) probe composed of directedlight source and sensor is oriented towards the flow of harvestedmaterials, which consists of cereal grains, or even harvested choppedcorn or grass chaff.

In practice, however, it has been found that a lack of controllabilityover the chopped materials with this method a separation can alreadybegin to take place prior to the analysis, as a result of whichdistortions of the analytical results have occurred. Besides this, theknown harvesting machines are not suited for analysis of root crops ofindividual parcels.

Moreover, from US 2010/0216114 A1, a process having the following stepsis known: finely dividing the root crops of a plot into substantiallyequal sized fine pieces, generating a stream of fine pieces of root cropand transporting the fine pieces of root crop with the aid of atransport device, homogenizing or making uniform the stream of finepieces of a root crop, irradiating the stream of fine pieces of a rootcrop with light of the near infrared range, recording the reflectedradiation, converting radiation into a spectral signal, processing ofthe spectral signal for determination of the components. In the samedocument, also a device for performing the process is disclosed, thedevice comprising a apparatus for reducing the root crop to fine pieces,a transport device, a device to equalize a stream of reduced root cropsand a measuring device for identification and quantification ofingredients.

Even though the apparatus for reducing the root crop to fine pieces iseffective, it has shown that particular reduction and the structure ofthe root crop pieces is essential for a subsequent analysis using theNIRS-method. It is essential that the root crop pieces are substantiallyequal sized, not too large and not too small, and relatively dry. It hasbeen found by the inventors of the present invention that mashed rootcrops are difficult to analyze, and the same is true for too big piecesof cut root crops. Therefore, improvement of the already known apparatusis needed.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment of the invention, a device for crumbling rootcrops into substantially equally sized pieces comprises: a main framehaving an inlet side and an outlet side; a root crop supply at the inletside; at least one crumbling shaft rotatable supported in the mainframe, the crumbling shaft being provided with a plurality of curvedhooks, preferably curved into a direction of rotation of the crumblingshaft; and a non-rotating cutting rake having a plurality of recessesand preferably protrusions and forming a counterblade for the hooks,wherein the hooks are arranged for interlaced movement with saidrecesses of the non-rotating rake. The hooks are curved and may have asmall axial size compared to the axial length of the respectivecrumbling shaft. The rake also has a sealing function and ensures thatonly pieces with a sufficiently reduced size may pass to the outletside. The hooks are adapted to crumble pieces of the root crop ratherthan cutting it. They break pieces off root crops out of the whole fruitand therefore the pieces are rather dry and do not comprise a flat andwet cutting surface. To support this function, the hooks may comprise ablade portion at the tip.

According to another embodiment, the cutting rake is adjustable inheight for adjusting a vertical distance to said crumbling shaft. Whenthe distance between the cutting rake and the crumbling shaft isincreased, the crumbled pieces of root crop tend to be larger, while areduced distance leads to smaller pieces of crumbled root crops. Also,the rotational speed of the crumbling shaft may be adjusted forachieving such an effect. In one embodiment, the crumbling shaft isconnected to a drive for driving the crumbling shaft, in particular amotor drive. Normally, the crumbling shaft rotates in the range of 300to 1000 rpm, while a higher rotational speed leads to reduced piecesizes, and vice versa.

In yet another embodiment, the device comprises a cleaning rake adjacentto or opposite the cutting rake for stripping off root crop pieces fromthe hooks. When the hooks are rotating upwards again, it is desirablethat pieces, which are pierced by the hooks, or adhering to the hooks,are stripped off. Moreover, such a cleaning rake also has a sealingeffect, such that pieces, which are larger than the recesses betweenprotrusions of the rake, are not able to pass to the outlet.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the devicecomprises a de-clogging device for de-clogging clogged root crops fromthe rake. It may happen that a root crop sticks in the device and is notcrumbled anymore, since it may be located at a position where the hookscannot reach it, or the hooks are blocked by the root crop. It may alsohappen that the root crop is cut at one place by the hooks and the hooksonly move through the root crop, which does not move anymore, and thusdo not crumble off additional pieces. The de-clogging device is operablefor de-clogging such root crops and may incorporate one or moreelements, e.g. bars, which are movable upwards or any other directionfor moving the clogged root crops for bringing them again into aposition engageable with the hooks.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the devicemay comprise a set of first and second crumbling shafts supported insaid frame, wherein the first and second crumbling shafts are arrangedfor a counter rotating, wherein one rake is provided between thecrumbling shafts having opposingly arranged protrusions and recesses.The rake, which is positioned between these shafts, is the cutting rake.Additionally, two cleaning rakes are preferably arranged at oppositesides distal from the cutting rake.

In yet another embodiment, two sets of such sets of first and secondcrumbling shafts are arranged side by side, in a parallel manner, suchthat at least four crumbling shafts are provided in one device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a device fordetermining components in root crops comprises: a device for crumblingroot crops into substantially equal sized pieces, the device forcrumbling root crops comprises a main frame having an inlet side and anoutlet side; a root crop supply at the inlet side; at least onecrumbling shaft rotatable supported in the main frame, the crumblingshaft being provided with a plurality of curved hooks, preferably curvedinto a direction of rotation of the crumbling shaft; and a non-rotatingcutting rake having a plurality of recesses and preferably protrusionsand forming a counterblade for the hooks, wherein the hooks are arrangedfor interlaced movement with said recesses of the non-rotating rake; thedevice for determining components in root crops further comprises: atransport device for transporting the stream of root crop crumbles; anequalizing roller for homogenizing the stream of root crop crumbles; anda measuring device for identification and quantification of ingredients.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method fordetermining components in root crops, comprises the following steps, inthis sequence: crumbling the root crops into substantially equal sizedfine pieces using a device for crumbling root crops into substantiallyequal sized pieces, generating a stream of fine pieces of root crop, andtransporting the fine pieces of root crop with the aid of a transportingdevice; homogenizing or evenly distributing the fine pieces of root cropin the stream; irradiating the stream of fine pieces of root crop with alight of the near infrared range; recording the reflected and/orabsorbed radiation; converting radiation into a spectral signal; andprocessing of the spectral signal for determination of the components;wherein the device for crumbling root crops into substantially equalsized pieces comprises: a main frame having an inlet side and an outletside; a root crop supply at the inlet side; at least one crumbling shaftrotatable supported in the main frame, the crumbling shaft beingprovided with a plurality of curved hooks, preferably curved into adirection of a rotation of the crumbling shaft; and a non-rotatingcutting rake having a plurality of recesses and preferably protrusionsand forming a counterblade for the hooks, wherein the hooks are arrangedfor interlaced movement with said recesses of the non-rotating rake.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention will be detailed subsequently,referring to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a device for determining components inroot crops;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a device for crumbling root crops;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a cut through the device of FIGS. 2 and 3 ;

FIG. 5 is a further cut through the device of FIGS. 2 and 3 ;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a crumbling shaft comprising curvedhooks;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a hook;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the hook of FIG. 7 ;

FIG. 9 is a further cut through the device for crumbling root crops;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a first de-clogging element;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a second de-clogging element; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for determining components in rootcrops.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1 , a device 1 for determining components in root crops is shownschematically: cleaned root crops of a parcel are collected in afunnel-shaped hopper 13. From the hopper 13, the root crops move to adevice 14 for crumbling root crops into substantially equal sizedpieces, as it will be described in detail below. In the device 14, theroot crops are reduced into essentially even sized pieces. The device 14comprises a main frame 15 having an inlet side 20 and an outlet side 22.The root crop pieces 24 fall onto an apparatus for transportation 2, forexample a conveyer belt 5, and accumulate there. The speed of theconveyer belt 5 is adjustable and is adapted to the speed at which theroot crops are reduced, however, the accumulation of pieces from thedevice 14 on the conveyer belt 5 does not result in a smooth surface. Onthe conveyer belt 5, the accumulated root crop pieces 24 therefore gointo a device 3, which provides a comparative even distribution of thesample flow. The device 3 has a roller 6 in the form of an elongateshaft, which is arranged at a constant and fixed distance D₁ above theconveyer belt 5 along the roll axis 7. Using this roller 6, the samplestream of crumbled root crops 24 is compressed to a certain thickness,whereby a smooth surface results. The distance between the roller 6 andconveyer belt 5 is adjustable; it is preferably between 100 mm and 150mm.

A motor drives the roller 6 and rotates it in the running direction ofconveyer belt 5, as indicated by the arrow. The motor may be drivenelectrically, hydraulically, or pneumatically. In a preferred embodimentthe movement of the roller 6 is coupled with drive of the conveyer belt5.

As the crumbled root crops 24 contact the roller 6, they are spread onthe conveyer belt 5 and are subject to a compressive force as a functionof the distance between the roller 6 and the conveyer belt 5. The socompressed sample of root crops 24 thus has imparted to it a smoothsurface and a constant height.

In embodiments of the invention the roller preferably comprises a smoothsurface, as e.g. a polymer surface or a steel surface. The polymersurface might be provided as a polymer layer on a frame structure of theroller 6, or the whole, substantially the complete roller 6, might beformed of a polymer. It has shown that a smooth surface is beneficialfor homogenizing the stream. Moreover, it is preferred that the surfacehas low adhesive features, as e.g. a non-stick surface or a non-stickcoating. In alternative embodiments, also additional rollers might beprovided, which has shown to be beneficial, when the stream of root croppieces 24 is large.

Below the belt 5, a block 25 can be provided, for providing acounterpart for the pressure of the roller 6. Block 25 ensures that thebelt 5 is not pushed downwards with respect to FIG. 1 and thus, thestream of crumbled root crops 24 substantially has a height of D₁ afterpassing the roller 6.

In one embodiment of the invention scrapers 8A, 8B, 19 are provided onthe roller 6 and/or the conveyer belt 5 and continuously clean theroller surface and belt 5 during operation, thus avoiding thecross-mixing of two root crop samples of consecutive processed plots.

Moreover, a clumping or accumulation of root crop sample 24 on theconveyer belt 5 and roller 6 can be ruled out, which would otherwiseseverely disturb the comparative homogenization of the sample flow.Preferably, the scraper is a wiper 8A positioned directly in front ofthe roller 6 relative to the direction of movement of the conveyer belt5. Particularly preferred the wiper 8A is cleaning the roller surfaceabove the rotation axis of the roller, i.e. the wiper 8A is positionedor affects the roller surface above the rotation axis 7 of the roller.For processing of beets the optimum distance between rotation axis ofthe roller and wiper 8A (D₃) is around 20 mm.

Directly downstream of the roller 6 is an apparatus determiningcomponents in root crops 4 (for example NIR- or THz-spectrometer) usinge.g. a sensor head 9 with a light source 10 and a sensor 11 fordetecting the radiation reflected or absorbed from the smooth surface ofthe stream of root crop sample 24 in the wavelength range from 850 nm to1650 nm. The sensor head 9 is elevated at a fixed distance of 200 mm to250 mm of the surface of the smooth sample flow 24 and can be pivoted asdesired relative to the sample stream 24, e.g. in the direction of theconveyer belt parallel or at a 90 degree angle. In this way, it ispossible for instance to sense and record the entire width of the samplestream 24.

The sensor 11 continuously records reflected or absorbed radiation andtransmits it via optical fiber 17 to a spectrometer 18, which convertsthe spectrally resolved radiation wavelengths into digitized portions,at regular intervals of 40 ms. Thus, during the flow-by of the stream ofroot crop samples, several hundred such spectra are produced, which arefiltered and averaged by a processor 12. By comparison with suitablecalibration data, the identities and concentrations ofquality-ingredients such as sugar, starch, crude protein, crude ash,crude fiber content, crude fat, anions or cations, NDF (neutraldetergent fibre), ADF (acid detergent fibre), (acid detergent lignin),Hemicellulose (HCEL) or Cellulose (CEL) are determined with highprecision and are output.

It has shown in the past that it is important to achieve a substantiallyhomogeneous flow of crumbled root crops 24, with same sized pieces andwithout excess liquid draining from the pieces. The liquid tends toreflect the light, which makes the determination of components of theroot crops more difficult. Tests have been carried out with a root cropmill, which is usually used to chop root crops for animal feedproduction. However, these devices have been shown to be of too lessstrength for crumbling a stream of a whole parcel and also might resultin uneven pieces. Also, a shredding machine has been tested; however,the result was poor, since the pieces of root crops where very unevenand had a high spread in piece size. Further tests have been carried outwith a root crop saw and a mill and the root crops have been reduced toa normal mash, a coarse mash, juice, large pieces (e.g. 15-20 cm³),small pieces (3-8 cm³) and slices of ca. 500-800 cm³. When either usingthe mash, the normal mash or the coarse mash, it has shown that theresults are not exact, which may be a result of the fast degradation ofthe material. When using fine pieces, the problem is that a small waterfilm emerges on the pieces and this is corrupting the NIRS or THzspectroscopy measurement, since the water film cannot be passed by theradiation. Slices of root crops had the negative effect that theirdistance between the stream on the conveyer belt and the sensor headvaries, when the slices are put upon each other or in case they are notcompletely evenly cut. Therefore, it is important to achieve an even andhomogeneous particulate stream, which is relatively dry, has even rootcrop piece sizes and a relatively flat surface.

Providing such a stream of crumbled root crops can be achieved by meansof the device 14 for crumbling root crops according to the presentinvention.

The device 14 for crumbling root crops into substantially even equalsized pieces in a first perspective view is shown in FIG. 2 . The devicecomprises a frame 15, which is substantially rectangular and comprisesfirst and second head portions 30, 32, which are opposingly arranged andfirst and second side portions 34, 36, which are also opposinglyarranged. All side portions 30, 32, 34, 36 are arranged in a rectangularangle to each other, such that a frame is build. At the inlet side 20,normally a hopper 13 would be placed, which is not shown in FIG. 2 forsimplicity (see FIG. 1 ).

Within the main frame 15, according to this particularly preferredembodiment, four crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 are rotatablesupported. The crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 will be described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 6 below.

Axial ends 44, 45 (see FIG. 6 ) of the crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43,are received in bearings 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53. The bearings46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 are formed as roller bearings, inparticular tilted roller bearings, to support the high forces, which acton the crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 during crumbling of root crops.

Two of the four crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 form one set, in thisembodiment, the crumbling shafts 40, 41 form a first set of crumblingshafts and the crumbling shafts 42, 43 form a second set of crumblingshafts. Only one crumbling shaft 41, 43 of each set of crumbling shaftsis provided with a drive shaft extension 54, 55, protruding through therespective bearing 48, 52 and engageable with a corresponding driveshaft of a drive motor or the like. Within a housing portion 33 of thesecond head panel 32, a gearing 56 for each set of crumbling shafts 40,41, 42, 43 is provided, wherein gearing 56 can be seen in FIG. 4 .Gearing 56 comprises a first gearing wheel 57 mounted on the crumblingshaft 41, which engages a second gearing wheel 58 fixed to crumblingshaft 40 (see FIG. 6 ). By engagement of the two gearing wheels 57, 58,the rotation of crumbling shaft 41 can be transferred to crumbling shaft40 so that the crumbling shafts 40, 41 of the first set of crumblingshafts rotate at the same speed. Due to the gearing 56, they rotate incounter rotation. It shall be understood that for the second set ofcrumbling shafts 42, 43, an identical gearing is provided within thecasing 33. In general, the two sets of crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43are formed identical and the reason for providing four crumbling shafts40, 41, 42, 43 mainly is to increase throughput and performance of thedevice 14.

With reference to FIG. 6 , the crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 (in FIG.6 , only one crumbling shaft 40 is shown; however, the design of thecrumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 is substantially identical) is providedwith a plurality of hooks 60 (only one indicated with reference sign inFIG. 6 ). The hooks 60 are all formed identical to each other, howeverprovided offset to each other and about a circumference of the crumblingshaft 40. The crumbling shaft 40 comprises a main shaft portion 62 andthe two extensions 40, 42 for being received in respective bearings 46,47. The main shaft portion 62, according to this embodiment, has arectangular shape having four surfaces being at substantially 90° toeach other. The main shaft portion 62 is provided with through bores 64,65 (again only two in FIG. 6 indicated with reference signs), which arearranged in alternating manner through the main shaft portion 40. Thatis, the through bores 64, 65 alternate, while the first through bore 64is provided in a first direction and the second through bore 65 in asecond direction, which is perpendicular to the first direction of thefirst through bore 64. The through bores, which are parallel to eachother, in embodiments of the invention are offset by a value in therange of 20 mm to 80 mm, preferably 30 mm to 50 mm and in thisparticular embodiment are offset by a value of 40 mm. The value may bedependent on the size of the hooks 60 and also on the type of root cropto be crumbled. 40 mm has shown to be a preferred range for sugar beetsor fodder beets.

Moreover, the hooks 60 in through bores 64, 65, which are parallel toeach other, are also alternating arranged, such that they protrudealternating in opposing directions. Each hook 60 comprises a hookportion 66 (see FIGS. 7 and 8 ) and a mounting portion 67. Between thehook portion 66 and mounting portion 67, a flange portion 68 isprovided, which serves as an abutment, when the respective hook 60 isseated in one of the through bore 64, 65. The respective hook 60 ispushed with its mounting portion 67 through the through bore 64, 65 andcomes into contact with the main shaft portion 40 with its flangeportion 68, such that it is in a defined position. The flange portion 68can be designed with a square-shaped cross-section as shown in FIG. 7 oralternatively an oval cross-section. This flange portion 68 fits in arespective pressed or milled notch in crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43.The mounting portion 67 is provided with a thread portion 69, which actstogether with a nut 70 comprising a correspondingly provided innerthreaded portion (see FIG. 6 ). Each hook 60 is curved into a directionof movement of the respective crumbling shaft 40, 41, 42, 43, asindicated by the moving arrow M.

The design of the hooks is in particular shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and willnow be described. The hook portion 66 comprises a substantiallyrectangular cross-section with two parallel side faces 72, as well as aback surface 73 and a front surface 74. Front and back surface 73, 74are curved and resemble a partial circle. The radius of the curvature ofeach of the front and back faces 73, 74 differ from each other and theradius of the front face 74 is slightly larger than the radius ofcurvature of the back face 73. This is not absolutely necessary, butbeneficial in this embodiment. It shall, however, be understood that itcould also be the other way around and that the radius of the curvatureof the back face 73 is larger than the radius of curvature of the frontface 74. According to this embodiment, the radius R₁ of the curvature ofthe back face is in the range of 20 mm to 40 mm, in particular in therange of 34 mm. The radius of curvature R₂ of the front face 74 is alsoin the range of 20 mm to 40 mm, in this particular embodiment in therange of 35 mm. The tapering shape of the hook portion 66 is due to anoffset of the center points P₁, P₂ of each radius R₁, R₂, which areoffset by the thickness D₂ of a base portion 75 of the hook portion 66.The thickness D₂ is in the range of 5 mm to 15 mm, in this particularexample, it may be in the range of 10 mm. Thus, also the offset betweenthe points P₁ and P₂ is about 10 mm, resulting in the tapering shape ofthe hook portion 66.

At the terminal end 76, the hook portion 66 comprises a sharp edge 77tapering inwardly and merging via a small protrusion 78 into the frontface 74. The edge portion 77 is relatively sharp and comprises a smallradius, in particular in the range of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm. Each hook 60 hasa length, when measured from the edge portion 77 to the center of thebase portion 75, in the range of 20 mm to 80 mm, preferably 30 mm to 50mm, in particular about 40 mm. By this particular arrangement of thehooks 66, the edge 77 will cut into the respective root crop, when thecrumbling shaft 40, 41, 42, 43 rotates and thus cause brittling,crumbling or ripping off portions of the root crop due to the taperingor wedge shape of the hook 60. When measured in angles α and β of theextension of the partial circular portions formed by the back face 73and front face 74, the extension of angle α is in the range of 45° to90°, in particular in the range of 60° to 80°, more preferred about 75°.Similarly, the extension of the angle β is shorter to provide the wedgeportion at the edge 77 and is in the range of 30° to 80°, in particular40° to 60° and more preferred in the range of 50°.

Now, again turning back to FIGS. 2 to 5 , when the crumbling shafts 40,41, 42, 43 rotate, in particular in a counter rotation movement, theyrequire a counterpart for supporting the root crops to be cut. Thiscounterpart is formed by a cutting rake 80, 82, wherein one cutting rake80, 82 is provided for each of the first set of crumbling shafts 40, 42and the second set of crumbling shafts 42, 43. Each cutting rake 80, 82is formed the same and comprises a longitudinal bar 83, 84 extendingfrom the head portion 30 to head portion 32 and attached thereto, bymeans of a respective mounting plate 85, 86 (see FIG. 5 ). By means ofthese mounting plates 85, 86, the cutting rake 80, 82 is attached to themain frame 15. The cutting rake 80, 82 comprises a plurality of metalplates 87 attached to the bars 80, 82, respectively, and offset in axialdirection to each other, such that they form protrusions 88 and recesses89 for cooperating with the hooks 60 on the respective crumbling shafts40, 41, 42, 43. The protrusions and recesses 88, 89 are provided forinterlaced movement with the hooks 66 and provide a counter support orcounter blade for the root crops to be cut. Additionally, theprotrusions and recesses 88, 89 provide a sieving function, which mightbe inferred from e.g. FIGS. 3 and 5 and serves such that root croppieces, which are larger than a specific size, are not able to pass tothe outlet side 22.

By means of the mounting plates 85, 86, the vertical height of thecutting rakes 80, 82 (see FIG. 5 ) is adjustable. While the cuttingrakes 80, 82 are shown in an intermediate position in FIG. 5 , theymight be mounted further upwards, such that the size of the crumblingroot crop pieces becomes smaller, and might also be attached to a lowerportion of main frame 15, such that bigger pieces of root crops are cutfrom the root crops. However, in an upward direction, the position islimited by the cutting circle C, which is a circle connecting the movingpoint of the edges 77 of the hooks. The bar 83, 84 is not able to movefurther upward, otherwise a contact between the edges 77 and the bar 83,84 would occur.

Additionally to the cutting rakes 80, 82, two cleaning rakes 90, 91, 92,93 are provided for each of the first set of crumbling shafts 40, 41 andsecond set of crumbling shafts 42, 43. The cleaning rakes 90, 91, 92, 93extend along the crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 and parallel to them.They are formed as a counterpart to the cutting rakes 80, 82. Thecleaning rakes 90, 91, 92, 93 are attached to either the head portions30, 32, or the side panels 34, 36 of the main frame 15. They might beadjustable in height position, even though this is not particularlynecessary for the present invention. They are used to clean off stuck oradhered root crop pieces from the hooks 60 respectively, when the hooks60 move upwards. Thus, they avoid that uncut pieces of the root cropsare moved from the inlet side 20 to the outlet side 22. Since thecleaning rakes 90, 91, 92, 93 do not have to be very high forces; theyare made out of a sheet metal, in particular punched out of a sheetmetal and bend, such that they have a substantially angled shape. Again,protrusions 95 and recesses 96 are formed at the cleaning rake 90, 91,92, 93 by punching, for interlaced movement with the hooks 60, when thecrumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 rotate. In a preferred embodiment thecleaning rakes 90, 91, 92, 93 are stabilized by gusset plates 99 fixedby welding as indicated in FIG. 5 .

For the event that one or more of the root crops to be crumbled getstuck or clogged and do not move anymore, the device 14 of the presentinvention comprises a de-clogging device 100. This de-clogging devicewill now be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 5, 9, 10 and 11 inparticular. The de-clogging device 100 is operable for de-cloggingclogged root crops from the cutting rake 80, 82 or cleaning rakes 90,91, 92, 93. According to this particular embodiment, in which the device14 comprises the two sets of crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43, thede-clogging device 100 comprises three de-clogging elements 101, 102,103, while the second de-clogging element 102 is used for both sets ofcrumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43. The first and third de-cloggingelements 101, 103 are substantially formed identical to each other, butarranged mirrored and opposite to each other. Each of the de-cloggingelements 101,102, 103 is arranged to be movable adjacent to a cleaningrake 90, 91, 92, 93. There might be additional de-clogging elements forde-clogging root crops which are clogged to the cutting rake 80, 82,however, it is shown that this is more seldom and mainly root crops getclogged at either the connecting portion between the first and secondsets of crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43, or side portions, that is atthe side panels 34, 36. Root crops have more tendencies to be clogged atthe cleaning rakes 90, 91, 92, 93, since there is less cutting actionthan at the cutting rakes 80, 82. For a complete cutting of all rootcrops provided to the inlet side 20, it is necessary that the root cropsare able to “dance” on the crumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43. If too manyroot crops are loaded into the hopper 13, it might happen that the rootcrops are pressed towards the rakes 80, 82, 90, 91, 92, 93 and thusbecome clogged.

According to the present embodiment, the de-clogging element 102 is at acentral portion and the de-clogging elements 101, 103 are at the sidepanels 34, 36. Each of the de-clogging elements 101, 102, 103 comprise abar 104, 105, 106 with a longitudinal extension parallel to saidcrumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 and movable upwardly for raising cloggedroot crops or root crop pieces.

The outer de-clogging elements 101, 103 comprise respective brackets107, 108, 109, 110, between which the bar 104, 106 extends and to whichthe bar 104, 106 is attached to. The brackets 107, 108, 109, 110 arepivotally attached to the head portions 30, 32 via respective pivothinges 111, 112, 113, 114, which are substantially arranged verticallyabove the cutting rakes 80, 82, respectively. They might also bepositioned at other positions within the scope of the invention.

At the brackets 107, 108, 109, 110, moreover, engagement pins 115, 116,117, 118 are attached, extending outwardly away from the respectivebracket 107, 108, 109, 110. The engagement pins 115, 116, 117, 118 areprovided for an engagement with an activation piston 119, 120 (see FIG.9 ). The activation piston 119, 120 is attached to a fixing portion 121,122 and is able to contract with respect to the right-hand side of FIG.9 (piston 120) to a position as shown in the left-hand side of FIG. 9(piston 119). When the pistons 119, 120 retract, the de-clogging element101, 103 is pivoted about the pivot hinges 111, 112, 113, 114 and thus,the bar 104, 106 is raised in an arch-shaped path starting from therespective cleaning rake 90, 93 and upwardly towards the centre of thedevice 14 and thus, in a direction of the rotating direction of thecrumbling shafts 40, 43. The bars 104, 106 are moreover provided withrespective through holes 124 (only shown with reference sign in FIG. 11) thus, increasing a friction between the clogged root crop and the bar104, such that the clogged root crop might be transported towards acentral direction and thus again engaged by means of the hooks 60.

The central de-clogging element 102 acts in a similar manner. Itcomprises engagement portions 125, 126 (see FIG. 10 ), which are engagedby a third pair of pistons 128 (only one shown in FIG. 9 ; it shall beunderstood there is a second one for engagement section 125 on theopposite side of the device). These pistons 128 can be activated in aparallel manner, such that the whole de-clogging element 102 isstraightly lifted upwards, but they might also be activated in sequence,such that the de-clogging element 102 is pivoted and in a first step,portion 125 is raised and lowered again and in a second step, portion126 is raised and lowered again. This also leads to the effect thatclogged root crops are pushed towards the centre of the device 14.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 200 for determining components in rootcrops. A method according to this particularly preferred embodimentcomprises seven steps in the following order:

The method starts with the step of crumbling 201 the root crops intosubstantially equal sized fine pieces using the device 14, as describedbeforehand. Thus, the root crops are fed into the hopper 13, thecrumbling shafts 40, 41, 42, 43 are activated to rotate and root croppieces are provided at the outlet side 22. Preferably, the crumblingshafts are rotated at a speed of about 300 to 1000 rpm, wherein a higherrotational speed results in smaller pieces of root crop and a lowerrotational speed results in bigger pieces of root crop.

In the second step 202, a stream of fine pieces of root crop 24 isgenerated and the fine pieces of root crop are transported with the aidof a transporting device 5. Afterwards, by means of the roller 6 inparticular, a step of homogenizing 203 or evenly distributing the finepieces of root crop 24 in the stream is carried out. Then, anirradiating step 204 of the stream of fine pieces of root crop withlight in the near infrared range is carried out and the reflected orabsorbed radiation is recorded 205. This recorded radiation is converted206 into a spectral signal, and processing 207 of the spectral signalfor determination of the components is carried out.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A device for crumbling root crops, preferably into substantially equal sized pieces, comprising: a main frame having an inlet side and an outlet side; a hopper at the inlet side of the main frame for collecting root crops; at least one crumbling shaft rotatable supported in the main frame, the crumbling shaft being provided with a plurality of curved hooks comprising a sharp edge, preferably curved into a direction of rotation of the crumbling shaft; a non-rotating cutting rake having a plurality of protrusions and recesses arranged for interlaced movement with the hooks; a de-clogging device for de-clogging clogged root crops from the cutting rake; and a cleaning rake adjacent to or opposite the cutting rake for stripping off root crop pieces from the hooks, wherein the cutting rake is adjustable in height for adjusting a vertical distance to said crumbling shaft.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein a back face of the curved hooks is curved about an angle of 30° to 90° from a base portion of the hook to a terminal end of the hook.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the curved hooks are displaced to each other provided about the circumference of the crumbling shaft.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the curved hooks have a length in a range of 20 mm to 80 mm, measured along a center line of the hooks.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the curved hooks have a cross section in a range of 100 mm², measured at a foot portion and/or in a middle portion of the hooks.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the curved hooks are axially offset to each other by a value in the range of 10 mm to 100 mm.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the curved hooks are removably fixed to the crumbling shaft.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the de-clogging device comprises a first de-clogging element for the cutting rake.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the first de-clogging element is in the form of a bar with a longitudinal extension parallel to said crumbling shaft and movable upwardly for raising clogged root crops or root crop pieces.
 10. The device of claim 8, wherein the de-clogging device comprises a second de-clogging element for the cleaning rake.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the second de-clogging element is in the form of a bar with a longitudinal extension parallel to said crumbling shaft and movable upwardly for raising clogged root crops or root crop pieces.
 12. The device of claim 8, wherein the first de-clogging element is connected to a drive for intermittently driving the first de-clogging element.
 13. The device of claim 10, wherein the second de-clogging elements is connected to a drive for intermittently driving the second de-clogging element.
 14. The device of claim 1, comprising a set of first and second crumbling shafts supported in said frame, which are arranged for counter-rotating, wherein one rake is provided between the shafts having opposingly arranged protrusions and recesses.
 15. The device of claim 14, comprising a second set of third and fourth crumbling shafts.
 16. A device for determining components in root crops, comprising: the device for crumbling root crops according to claim 1 for providing a stream of root crop crumbles; a transport device for transporting the stream of root crop crumbles; an equalizing roller for homogenizing the stream of root crop crumbles; and a measuring device for identification and quantification of ingredients.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein a support is provided below the transport device for supporting the pressure of the roller.
 18. A method for crumbling root crops into substantially equal sized pieces, comprising: crumbling the root crops into substantially equal sized fine pieces using a device according to claim
 1. 19. A method for determining components in root crops, comprising the following sequence of steps: crumbling the root crops into substantially equal sized fine pieces using a device according to claim 1; generating a stream of fine pieces of root crop, and transporting the fine pieces of root crop with the aid of a transport device; homogenizing or evenly distributing the fine pieces of root crop in the stream; irradiating the stream of fine pieces of root crop with light of the near infrared range; recording the reflected and/or absorbed radiation; converting radiation into a spectral signal; and processing of the spectral signal for determination of the components.
 20. The method of claim 19, comprising: evenly supplying the root crops to the device for crumbling root crops, such that the root crops are free to move and spring on the cutting shafts. 